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The Mets spent a lot of time this offseason with Oliver Perez, visiting him once a month at the Fischer Sports Physical Therapy in Arizona. They also checked in on him at his Mexico home.
Pitching coach Dan Warthen said Perez became lackadaisical and “slipped into cruise mode,” after landing the big contract. He didn’t come into camp in good shape and was set back after the World Baseball Classic.

The Mets are saying Perez has changed, that he’s in good shape and optimistic about this season. You’ll have to excuse me as I’ve heard that refrain before. I wrote the other day of how you could look at Perez and it is true. He’s young, he’s won before, he’s got a great arm – you know, the party line the last three summers.

It’s all true. So to, have been his brain cramps, wildness and inconsistency.

It’s tempting to look at Perez’s shortcomings and think the worst, which I’ve done. I’m not ready to think the best, but I think I’ll look at him this way. If he pitches poorly, which he’s sure to do, I’ll try not to get upset. Instead I’ll try to think, “well, that’s not surprising.”

And, if he pitches well, and that will happen at times, I’ll try to be pleasantly surprised. There should be less anxiety that way.

I know, I know, some of you will think that’s impossible, or that you’ve stumbled on to a different blog. But, today, on the heels of Bill James’ prediction of the Mets’ rotation, I’ll be trying to come up with some reasons to think positive about Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, and yes, even Oliver Perez.

PELFREY: A 2010 key.

The inspiration comes after reading where James predicted the following seasons for Pelfrey (9-12, 4.45 ERA), Perez (8-11, 4.73) and Maine (9-9, 3.86 ERA). If James is close on the three, I don’t have to tell you what kind of season the Mets will have.

PELFREY: Pelfrey, despite taking a step back, went 10-12 with a 5.03 ERA in 31 starts. Pelfrey is only 26, young enough to believe there’s room for growth. Pelfrey made strides in 2008 and showed several glimpses of that form last year. With 31 starts, he’s proven to be durable. There’s reason to be hopeful about him. It would be premature to bail on him now.

PEREZ: Perez was hurt last season and went 3-4 with a 6.82 ERA in 14 starts. Perez has always run hot-and-cold, but his inconsistency last season was created in large part to the World Baseball Classic in spring training. There’s none of that this year. Perez worked out this winter at the Athletes Performance Institute in Arizona, and all the reports have been positive. Perez did win 15 games in 2007, so it’s not like we haven’t seen an upside from him.

MAINE: Like Perez, Maine won 15 games in 2007, his last full healthy season. Coming off surgery, Maine was 7-6 with a 4.43 ERA in 15 starts. The health reports have been good so far on Maine, and if he duplicates last season, projected over a full season he’d win 14 or 15 games. Who wouldn’t take that now?

Yes, I know James’ predictions are possible, but for now try to envision all the issues coming up positive for the Mets. If it all breaks right, you never know.

Of all the positions the Mets needed help at – save pitching – they probably could have used a first rate catcher more than anything else.

They didn’t get Bengie Molina, but were wise not to cave on the three years. But when the smoke cleared, surely they could have matched the offer Molina signed for. Rod Barajas is still out there, but is he really an upgrade over Henry Blanco and Omir Santos? Probably not.

Perhaps more than any other position, catching was the thinnest in the free agent market this winter.

It looks like it will be a Blanco-Santos platoon, which is hardly inspiring. Then again, there was always bringing back Brian Schneider, he wrote sarcastically.

* Fox Sports.com says the Mets are out of money, which is preventing them from signing Rob Barajas, and kept them from Joel Pineiro.

Considering nobody has access to the Mets’ finances outside the team, I don’t know how they could report that and be totally accurate. Maybe the Mets just don’t want to spend the money. A team out of money doesn’t spent $66 million on Jason Bay.

I think the Mets looked at the FA landscape, saw they couldn’t win without breaking the bank and opted just to be competitive instead. Competitive keeps the fans coming all summer.

* I do think, however, it is a mistake not to take a look at Chien-Ming Wang. Reports have been good on his shoulder and would be worth the gamble. Certainly, he would have come for less than Ben Sheets, another injury gamble.

* I was pleased to see Keith Hernandez working with Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans. I always knew he would if he were asked. Not to use a valuable resource like that is foolish.

In a conference call, Hernandez said: “For Dan last year, in midseason, to have to move over to first base and basically learn on the job at the major-league level, that’s a lot to ask; and I just thought that he really did admirably. I was surprised at how he played first base. It was much better than I expected.’’

* ESPN is reporting the Mets are close to re-signing first baseman Mike Jacobs.